THE LAND THAT COULD BE: ENVIRONMENTALISM AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.

By William A. Shutkin, London: MIT Press. 2000. [pound]17.50

This book is a progress report on the successes and failures of environmental agencies in the United States, rather like British equivalents detailing initiatives under Agenda 21 initiated as a result of the Rio Earth Summit. Shutkin argues that the Federal government's Environmental Protection Agency 'has historically shied away from its role as public educator and promoter of democratic decision-making', presenting itself as a legal-technical elite above the fray of politics and public pressure.

The US did not sign the Rio agreement, is by far the largest polluter of the environment and has no realistic plan for reducing carbon dioxide. Just one sad fact in this fact-packed book is that the growing popularity of 'the now ubiquitous sport utility vehicle', now half the cars on the US roads, has 'almost single-handedly' undermined the nation's efforts to achieve clean air goals, since they have drastically higher levels of emissions, less stringent emission standards than cars, and lower fuel economy.

Shutkin shows what an uphill task his fellow crusaders have and demonstrates the links between the campaign for environmental reform and the crusade for social justice.